Matthew Henry
BBC Sport at Lord's

England scored quickly in the afternoon session but did so in relatively calm fashion - reaching 145-1 after 30 overs at tea.

Afterwards, Australia turned to burly all-rounder Cameron Green for a tactic of short bowling.

In a 21-over spell, Australia bowled short 59% of the time and England took it on - sticking to the aggressive tactics that have brought them recent success by attacking more than 60% of those deliveries.

But then:

• Pope tried to hit Green for six and was caught at deep square leg.
• Three balls later, Root was caught off the glove playing another pull, only to be reprieved by a no-ball.
• Duckett, a first Ashes century two runs away, top-edged Josh Hazlewood to fine leg - having already gloved one over slip, skewed another over the keeper and almost hit a chance to deep square leg.
• Root was caught by a jubilant Steve Smith after he offered another catch off the edge.
• Harry Brook was dropped by Marnus Labuschagne after playing an explosive pull shot.

From 188-1, England were 222-4 and it took a more measured approach from Ben Stokes to take them to 278-4 at the close.

Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport chief cricket writer at Lord's

This was so close to being a magnificent day for England - for more than two sessions they were every bit as good as they were lethargic on Wednesday.

As the pitch quickened up, the home bowlers found more zip. The catching was sharp and the batting, led by the increasingly dependable Duckett, was grinding Australia down.

Indeed, as the touring bowlers battled in vain to extract any movement from the ball, England's only error came from Zak Crawley, who ran down the pitch and was stumped down the leg side off Lyon for a handsome 48.

Then came eight overs of madness that threatened to derail any chance England have of regaining the Ashes. Their success under Stokes has been built on an attacking style, but the reckless way they allowed Australia back in defied cricketing logic.

What made the collapse worse were the warnings England failed to heed. Duckett had been discomforted by the short ball and Root caught off a no-ball, yet England refused to temper their aggression.

At the end of a breathless, action-packed day the Test is deliciously poised, though that does little to shake off the feeling of what might have been.

Read more here.

Despite all the noise, England will actually begin the day in a decent position.

They trail Australia by 138 runs with six first innings wickets in hand. Harry Brook is 45 from 51 balls, while skipper Ben Stokes is a more measured 17 from 57.

A decent start and a first innings lead is not out of the question.

Hello and welcome to coverage of day three of the second Ashes Test from Lord's.

Day two was another chaotic thriller as England fought back into contention, but also came in for some criticism for a perceived reckless approach to the short ball.

Don't expect a change in tactics any time soon, though.

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